Final form

In the Hebrew alphabet the final form is called sofit (, meaning "final" or "ending"). This set of letters is known acronymically as (otiyot menetzepekh, 'MNTzPK letters'). The now final forms predate their non-final counterparts; They were the default forms used in any position within a word. Their descender eventually bent forwards when preceding another letter to facilitate writing. A final form of these letters is also called pshuta (, meaning extended or plain). The letter Mem also had a descender , however, its current final form was a variant of used interchangeably in all positions. The standardization is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Megillah 2b-3a and Shabbas 104a). One instance of a medial is preserved in Isaiah 9:6 of the Hebrew Bible, while Nehemiah 2:13 and arguably Genesis 49:19–20 have a final . Modern Hebrew uses the forms finally, when transcribing a plosive pronunciation, for example (microscope), (Mubarak, ), while their final forms , are transcribing a fricative pronunciation, for example (Kach), (Chef). ==References==